Findings clearly demonstrate that interference theory can account for the forgetting of meaningfully-learned, connected discourse. (Authors)

As predicted, foods from categories typical of most people's restaurant schemata (conceptual framework) were better recalled by undergraduates who read a restaurant narrative, than those reading about supermarkets, a less structured schemata. Findings confirm Ausubel's notion that information which fits slots in a conceptual framework is more…

Subjects read narratives about a meal at a fine restaurant or a trip to a supermarket. The same 18 items of food, attributed to the same characters, were mentioned in the same order in the two stories. As predicted from current formulations of schema theory, foods from categories determined to be part of most people's restaurant schemata were…